Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)

REVEAL marks a new chapter for design in Sri Lanka

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REVEAL; AOD’s Annual Graduate Design Showcase presented the innovative work of its recent graduates, showcasing incredible talent and revolution­ary thinking which is essential for the future of creative industries in the country.

As innovative thinking takes the forefront in the business world, industry profession­als tend to give preference to those who display skills such as creative thinking, forethough­t and the ability to appeal to a specific cohort of customers in the most unique way. With this in mind, industry heavyweigh­ts, leading organisati­ons and big brands gathered to employ the latest cohort of profession­ally qualified designers in fashion design, graphic design, interior design and motion graphics & animation design, to lead creative innovation for their businesses at AOD’s REVEAL last weekend. For visitors, REVEAL was a unique platform to meet the young graduates and faculty of AOD to explore the creative industries and latest design innovation.

AOD nurtures young creative talent with direct exposure to internatio­nal design expertise from a multi- talented faculty from all over the world which provides the students with up-todate knowledge and a worldview which is on par with internatio­nal standards. Therefore, these Graduates are well-rounded in terms of design skills, a comprehens­ive education and industryre­adiness with talents yet to be explored on a commercial scale. For Sri Lanka, REVEAL was a unique showcase of young creativity that unveiled new opportunit­ies and potentials of how design can impact our everyday lives and elevate its overall quality. REVEAL provided a rare opportunit­y to view the design work of the graduates and get a comprehens­ive insight to the project work and education at AOD and find some fantastic creative inspiratio­n, with a very good viewpoint into how the services and products that are used today will become better and richer experience­s in the future. The future prospects for the Sri Lankan fashion industry was to be clear from the new fusions between new fashion making technology and textile traditions like handloom and batik that are created by the fashion design graduates. The young influencer­s in visual communicat­ion design will reshape the way consumers interact with brands, use books, watch movies, use entertainm­ent and how informatio­n is communicat­ed in the next decade. The Motion Graphics & Animation Designers showcased the best of their work in terms of 3D animation, game design, visual effects and film making marking the next generation of design which can be used in the entertainm­ent as well as in health, education and a wide variety of industries. For young and aspiring designers it was a unique chance and a real opportunit­y to see what needs to be delivered in terms of design for the future and how design thinking must be developed. For those considerin­g a future in design, it was the perfect platform to meet AOD’s internatio­nal faculty, alumni working in industry, fresh graduates and current students to find out more about studying and qualifying as a designer.

The exclusive Industry Viewing of REVEAL with Chief Guest, Gill Caldicott - Country Director, British Council gracing the occasion, was especially curated in a way that enabled businesses from mega scale corporatio­ns to small and medium businesses, young brands and even individual entreprene­ur led operations, to discover graduate talent that matches them, through projects and work samples that mirrored individual graduate specialisa­tions. In addition to making it easier for businesses to find the right designer, REVEAL 2017 also incorporat­ed a series of industry awards that recognised traits and strengths that businesses would value in a designer. Awarded in collaborat­ion with AOD’s industry partners, the awards highlighte­d graduates who performed exceptiona­lly well in certain areas such as the most imaginativ­e solution in graphic design, best storytelli­ng in animation, Innovation in hand-woven textiles for fashion design and the sustainabl­e award in interior design. This included Leo Burnett, Balmond Studio, Arimac/ Idea Hell, Brandix’s TeeJay, MAS, Hirdaraman­i, Anim8, Colombo Design Studio, Dentsu Grant Group, We Are Designers, Mooniak Studio, Arimac, Ideas Shell, Ad Share, SHIFT, CDS, Coats Thread, True Digital Printing, PR, Nor Lanka, Emerald Shirts, Vogue Tex, JAT Holdings, A+ and Raux Brothers. It provided a unique opportunit­y for businesses and organisati­ons to handpick fresh design graduates who will take their brand or business to the next level. This event attracted a powerful audience of business leaders, HR and creative heads from a wide spectrum of industries from apparel, travel, hospitalit­y, interior architectu­re, advertisin­g, marketing and promotions to television and media. These industry power players were keen to interact with young design graduates, witness their creativity and innovation capabiliti­es, and discover firsthand the kind of design talent that promises to push their business to the next level. Reveal was held at the Trace Expert City in Colombo 10, from the 24th-26th November and became an effective hotspot for linking up businesses to fresh graduate design talent and the perfect opportunit­y for aspiring designers to get a great insight to the world of design.

AOD is visionary institute that pioneered the profession­al design sector in Sri Lanka, trusted by industry for profession­alizing the design talent in the country in partnershi­p with Northumbri­a University UK, reco gnized by the University Grants Commission Sri Lanka. AOD presents complete UK design degrees with Northumbri­a University in Fashion, Graphic Design, Interior Design, Fashion Marketing as well as Motion Graphics and Animation Design as 100% internal Degrees that can be fully completed in Sri Lanka. For free design career counsellin­g, or to understand

more about studying Fashion, Fashion Marketing, Interior Design Studies, Graphic Design and

Motion Graphics & Animation Design with 100%internal design degrees from Northumbri­a University

UK, reach AOD on 0775727772, 011 5867772 email info@aod.lk or walk in

between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday - AOD, 29, Lauries Road, Colombo

4. www.aod.lk

A lot of the time there is not much visibility between profession­al organizati­ons and academic institutio­ns. AOD Reveal shows the good work AOD is doing and nurturing the talent by giving them a platform to expose them to the industry

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 ??  ?? Chief Guest, Gill Caldicott -Country Director British Council declaring AOD Reveal graduate exhibition open
Chief Guest, Gill Caldicott -Country Director British Council declaring AOD Reveal graduate exhibition open

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